This pub is on the site of an inn dating back to the 16th century, located near the market town of Woodbridge. The building burnt down in June 2015 but this restaurant opened towards the end of that year on the rebuilt site. The Unruly Pig has several dining rooms, seating up to ninety customers in all, plus further seats in the garden in good weather. The menu mixes pub staples like steak and chips with some more unusual ideas such as a pork burger. The owner, Brendon Padfield, used to be a career lawyer for a top City firm before giving up the law and switching to the hospitality business. The head chef is Dave Wall, who had previously cooked at the picturesque La Talbooth in Dedham, and before that at Bibendum and the Boxwood Café. There was a three-course lunch menu available at £18 in addition to a full a la carte menu. Starters were £5.95 to £7.50, main course £13.95 to £19.95, and desserts £6.25 to £6.95.
There were about three-dozen wines available, ranging in price from £19.95 to £76; irritatingly, many had no vintages listed. Example labels were Fault Line Sauvignon Blanc at £25.95 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for around £10, Goulley Chablis at £34.95 compared to its retail price of about £14, and Carpinetto Brunello di Montelcino 2009 at £57 for a wine that will set you back £29 in shop.
A starter was a variant on Caesar salad with lobster. This featured tender shellfish and crisp cos lettuce, but an abundance of dressing, which slightly overpowered the salad, and a rather flavourless green olive puree (12/20). Better was tagliatelle with prawns and chilli, which had nicely made pasta and fairly tender prawns with a hint of chilli that for me could have been more prominent (13/20).
I enjoyed my pig burger with chorizo, pork and chilli mayonnaise, served in a brioche bun with caramelised onions (13/20). However chips on the side, though made by hand rather than bought in, were disappointing, pale and rather limp rather than crisp and golden (barely 11/20). Bream arrived with blackened skin but was very nicely cooked inside, the flesh gaining a pleasing smoky note from the charcoal of the Inka grill in the kitchen. The dish was only let down by a rather tasteless sauce, but the fish itself was lovely (14/20).
Strawberries were supplied from a nearby farm called Virginia Nurseries and had quite good flavour. The shortbread biscuits that came with the fruit were baked a little too long, though the white chocolate mousse with them was quite good (12/20). Honey panna cotta with amaretto ice cream had plenty of almond flavour (13/20).
Coffee was from a supplier called Next Day Coffee and was reasonable, though there is better coffee to be found if you look around. Service was friendly, and the bill came to £55 a head with a few glasses of wine. If you shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical cost per head would be about £50 all in. The Unruly Pig delivered an enjoyable meal, definitely a step up from normal pub grub.
Alan Armstrong
If you ignore a sneaky quick visit to the recently opened Five Guys in Chiswick, this was our first meal out since lockdown. They’ve put a lot of work into social distancing - temperature checks on arrival, plastic screens around the tables, dishes left on a side table next to yours. But this didn’t detract from the experience. Some interesting dishes (e.g. red pepper soup with marjoram pesto and tallegio) and a very good selection of wines by the glass, made for an enjoyable visit. I think your overall score is still about right. Maybe I‘ve become too used to London prices, but I thought it was very good value as well. Would definitely recommend to anyone who happened to be in the area.